Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

[Jeffrey Cohen]

This is a dumb question I know, but I have a fellow insisting that they were loops on both sides of the jacket for a belt. It is my understanding there was only one that was on the left side. Any thoughts?
Regards,
Jeffrey Cohen

[Yellowhammer Rebel]

Re: Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

There was only one on the left side.

[LeftCoastYank]

Re: Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

I'm not sure precisely what you mean by New York State Militia jackets. The pre-war NYSM had prescribed uniform regulations, which were really more a set of guidelines, or in many cases, duly noted and then ignored suggestions. If you're referring to the type of jacket issued by the State of New York to volunteers beginning in 1861, the answer is left side with a caveat: original New York state jackets vary greatly from one to the next. For example, they were made with 8 or 9 front buttons; the pocket was sometimes on the left and other times on the right; and the quality of workmanship exhibited on originals ranges from good to surprisingly bad. All that being said, I've never seen an original with a right-side belt loop, which isn't to say they didn't exist...

...my hypothesis is this fellow saw a reproduction made by a certain mainstream vendor who puts two belt loops on his "interpretation" of a NYS jacket.

[Jeffrey Cohen]

Re: Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

Therein lies my problem, I'd like to find a good maker of jackets for my lads. there is a short mention in Military Equipage about NY State artillery jackets.

Jeffrey Cohen

[LeftCoastYank]

Re: Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

I believe American Military Equipage by Frederick Todd covers 1851 to 1872? The NYSM underwent some pretty major transitions over 1865-66, 1872 and 1875-76 as it was stood-down for peacetime and reorganized into the New York National Guard. During the reorganizations, more standardized uniforms were adopted and many regiments were disbanded or amalgamated. In 1872, the NYNG adopted a new jacket that followed closely the pattern for the U.S. Army's model 1872 dress coat. Like the US M1872 coat, the NY M1872 had two belt loops.

One of the odd the things about the pre-Civil War and peacetime NYSM is that its regiments often didn't have specific branch of service designations and were cross trained as both infantry and artillery. This was particularity true of the units based in the area that occupies present day New York City. That was because, during peacetime, they were expected to fulfill two roles: that of a coastal defense force (heavy artillery) and a riot control constabulary (infantry). Because of this duel role, many NYSM regiments incorporated aspects of both infantry and artillery "flair" into their uniforms.

[LeftCoastYank]

Re: Belt loops on New York state militia jacket

Here are some images of M1872 coats worn by the post-war 79th NYNG . These coat are very close to the standard regulation M1872 dress coat for artillery with the exception that a they include a cutaway for the sporran. Note the two belt loops in the third picture.